Faith The Vampire Slayer Ep 02: Destiny
by D.Torres
Summary: -BTVS Spin Off- [complete]: Set after the Death of Cordelia in Angel S5, Faith retires in the hopes of leading a normal life. Unfortunately fate has other plans for the slayer. Picks up where Fresh Star ended.
1. Episode 2: Destiny

"The choice is very simple slayer... It's either your life or your watchers?" he called out to the Bostonian.  
  
"No dice. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but even I know you'll kill us both," the Slayer retorted.  
  
"Alas, you are indeed correct, but to be fair, allow me to show you what it is that I intend to do to you..." The voice stated.  
  
A high-pitched scream erupted from the captive and was soon followed by several tears of both clothing and appendages. Faith watched horrorified as he relished in the look of fear on the newest slayer's face. The young girl was next and he would enjoy making her screams echo throughout the town's streets. He dropped the still breathing body of the watcher as Kakistos, the master vampire of this region lunged at the slayer. The brunette, armed only with a sharp stake and a worn US Marine K-Bar knife, reacted on instinct and drew her knife from its sheath. In the blink of an eye the knife in Faith's right hand flew up; she flipped the grip of the knife and brought it back down as Kakistos yelled in agony as pain exploded through his eye, and blood pumped out like a fountain. Her face paling, the Slayer dropped her knife as she stared up at him.  
  
Kakistos, whose name in Greek meant worst of the worst, was scarred. No one in his very long life had ever accomplished this and this bitch would have to pay. Clutching his wounded eye with his left hand the vampire started swatting at Faith with his free arm. Faith managed to block several of his strikes but the Kakistos began using both arms to try and entrap her. As he neared the desperate slayer she, wooden stake clutched in her left hand, rammed the piece of wood forward.  
  
Faith's attack had again been pure instinct and the vampire bellowed so loud that all of Boston must have heard him. As his head came back into view Faith snapped out of her daze and realized she'd rammed that stake under Kakistos's wounded right eye. Blood was gushing from the wound, out of his bloody eye he could see the slayer running as fast as her legs would carry her down the side streets of Boston. In the distance she could hear Kakistos bellowing orders to his minions to find her and bring her to him. None were to kill her, that honor was his and his alone.  
  
Faith jumped up onto a dumpster and then up to a fire escape. She climbed desperately onto the metal ladder and darted as quickly as she could to the roof of the building. Scoping the distance from the rooftop she was on to an adjacent building Faith took a breath, wiped some sweat off her brow and dashed forward only to leap up and into the air. Faith sailed forward and a mere second before smashing onto the rooftop the brunette rolled forward and landed in on one knee. Faith did this for the next fifteen minutes until she was sure that she'd lost the vampires.  
  
Knowing she could not return to her watcher's home (it was bound to be under surveillance) and not having parents that gave a rats ass about her, Faith came to the only logical conclusion for her... She would venture to Sunnydale, California. Her watcher had told her that until recent times there was only supposed to be one active slayer at a time. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at the situation) there was in fact another slayer that was active. One Buffy Anne Summers.  
  
The slightly older slayer had apparently drowned while facing a Master Vampire only to be resuscitated before truly dying. This caused a break in the Slayer line and there were now two slayers. Running to the bus station Faith pulled out her emergency key, it was to a locker that contained an emergency bag that the watcher had set up, just in case. Faith inserted the key and opened the locker.  
  
There inside was a backpack for the girl and an envelope containing instructions. Opening the bag first, Faith found a change of clothes, a garbage bag, a cross, two vials of holy water, and a wooden stake. Inside the envelope she found two hundred dollars and direction on how to find Buffy Summers and Rupert Giles, the older slayers watcher. Faith ran to the bathroom and immediately changed out of her bloody clothes, she took the time to wash off some of the blood that was on her skin (to avoid questions), placed a ball cap on her head (with her hair tucked under it), and proceeded to calmly walk to the ticket counter.  
  
Ticket in hand and now only having seventy-five dollars, Faith waited inside until her bus arrived. It was still several hours till sunrise and Faith didn't want to risk being caught outside till then. The bus was due to arrive within the hour, baring traffic and or other mishaps but at least in here she was not alone. Faith had positioned herself so that she could see the mirror that faced the door. If someone entered that didn't have a reflection Faith would be ready.  
  
"Going somewhere girly?" A rather shifty character asked Faith.  
  
"What if I am?" She replied.  
  
"Just wondering how you're gonna make it to the bus before me and my friends get you." The vampire inquired as he shifted to his game face.  
  
"Simple." Faith stated now that her nerves had relaxed some. 

Faith motioned towards the police officers that were walking through the front door. The vampire immediately changes his face back and was about to comment when Faith took a swig of her water bottle. She then pulled the vampire towards her by the collar of his shirt and kissed him full on the lips. The vampire didn't realize until a few seconds later that something wasn't right. Faith then showed the vampire the half empty flask of holy water that she had in her pocket. Realization hit the vampire and he ran out of the bus station only to combust shortly after leaving the station. Faith had purchased a cheap toy squirt gun from the gift shop and decided to load it up with some holy water as well. While it wouldn't be enough to kill a vampire it would sure be enough to slow it down.  
  
It seemed that the vampire's threat of having friends waiting outside had been a bluff because as Faith and two other passengers departed the station she encountered no trouble getting on the bus nor leaving the city limits. Breathing a very big sigh of relief Faith relaxed for the first time all night as she made her way to Sunnydale, California. 


	2. 2

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I broke one of FF.net's rules so my account was locked down since monday. I will post parts 3 & 4 saturday & sunday respectively.   
  
Faith's eyes slowly fluttered open. As she looked at the digital clock before her, she wondered what on earth would cause her to awaken at FIVE O'CLOCK in the freakin' morning! Her adrenaline levels should have come down after her brief encounter with the vamps that she should have been out for some time. She didn't have a lot of sugars, didn't drink anything caffeinated, and she definitely didn't set her alarm clock. Moaning as she sat up Faith decided that if she was going to be awake she might as well go work off some of this excess energy she seemed to have.  
  
As she stretched Faith vaguely remembered dreaming something about the time her first watcher was killed. At the time it had been the most traumatic event in her life, now... after all the evil things she'd done she knew that it was by no means the worst memory she possessed. She could still remember the Professor pleading with her not to kill him. Faith shook her head and decided to do something constructive with all this excess energy. Dressing in a dark blue sports bra and matching workout shorts, Faith opened the door to her room, exited and quietly crept from her room.  
  
Walking ever so softly down the stairs she opened the door to the first floor, shut it and then headed to the Bowflex to begin her morning workout. Faith set the device for its maximum weight level and over the next hour worked on toning her arms, then her legs and eventually her abs. In the rather revealing workout clothes Faith's first, and permanent war wound was visible for any present to see. The scar, created when Buffy stabbed her four years prior, was very visible on the right side of her stomach. It was a reminder to Faith that at one point in time that the girl who was now her sibling had been forced to almost kill her for her evil deeds.  
  
Faith stood up and decided to take a run on the treadmill before she went upstairs to shower and change. As the twenty-two year old slayer ran on the treadmill she thought about how badly she screwed up during that one year of her life. The death of the deputy mayor was an accident, it could easily have just been Buffy that stabbed him, but it was her decision to hide the body and not report it. That had begun her downward spiral. Next she went to the mayor and offered herself as Mr. Trick's replacement, an offer that the mayor simply could not refuse. The reprehensible things she did during her tenure as his assistant/surrogate daughter still haunt her.  
  
I'm not that person any more! Faith thought to herself as she increased the pace of her run.  
  
She then flashed to once again trying to harm her sister. She threatened Joyce in the hopes of sending a message to Buffy only to have the girl arrive home and try to save the day, a play that Faith had counted on. During their struggle Faith had let Buffy pound her almost to the point of unconsciousness. A move that was risky but necessary. Catching Buffy's last punch she used a device to switch their bodies, leaving Buffy trapped in her weakened body and Faith in control of the healthy and strong body of Buffy Anne Summers.  
  
She then went about taking over Buffy's life. She pretended to be the hero, and for the first time in her life felt the love, admiration and respect that had been denied her. It was here that Faith reached the turning point in her life. After being restored to her body via a spell that Willow and her witch "friend" concocted, Faith fled Sunnydale and found herself in L.A. There she encountered the evil law firm Wolfram and Hart who wished for her to dispose of a growing nuisance to their clients... Angel.  
  
By this point in time she had decided that she, Faith, was evil and needed to be put down. She deliberately antagonized Angel by attacking him and those closest to him in the hopes that he would put her out of her misery. When Angel did not do this and took pity on her she decided that there might be something to this redemption thing. Unfortunately Buffy Summers and a wet works team sent by the Watchers Council had other plans for her (Buffy to pound her into oblivion and the Team to kill her).  
  
In the end Faith fled the safety of Angel Investigations and headed to the nearest police precinct to turn herself in for her crimes. Faith was sentenced to the Los Angles Women's Penitentiary to serve a prison term of 25 years to life for her crimes. Angel would visit Faith regularly during her tenure there and Faith was a model prisoner only fighting when she needed to defend herself. That was until Wesley arrived to tell her that Angelus was back.  
  
Faith was still thinking this when she was brought out of her thoughts by a rather audible chiming from the treadmill. She looked down and saw that she had speed up her pace to the point that the device could not accurately calculate how fast she was running. Running, seems like it's the only other thing I'm good at, Faith thought as she slowed her pace and finally stopped. Faith took a moment to stretch and walk off her sore leg muscles; it'd been ages since she had exercised at like this. Grabbing her towel she decided to go upstairs, shower and find some food.  
  
The warm water cascaded over Faith's body washing away all the sweat and grime and refreshing the former slayer. Faith refused to let herself dwell on the past while she showered and concentrated only on the sounds emanating in the room she currently occupied. She found something incredibly soothing about listening to the water strike the various surfaces in the shower stall and focused on them as she went about washing up. When she was done with her shower she dried herself off, climbed into her clothes for the day and decided to go find some grub.  
  
Dawn and Xander were already in the kitchen and Dawn was currently in front of the stove. The two lovers were bantering back and forth about absolutely nothing but Faith knew that this was just for her benefit. Even without slayer senses Faith could tell when two people had just had sex, and Dawn was grinning from ear to ear and Xander was playfully touching her neck and shoulders. One might think the two couldn't stand not being connected in some manner of fashion.  
  
The two had failed to notice her arrival so Faith decided to make the most of it. Picking up the cordless phone Faith walked over to them and announced her presence. "Xander, Buffy's on the phone for you and boy does she sound pissed."  
  
Xander and Dawn shot apart and the older man walked towards his friend and took the phone from her.  
  
"Hello?" Xander said cautiously. "Hello?"  
  
Xander then looked at the digital readout and saw that the phone hadn't even been on. "Faith that was so very uncool." Xander said.  
  
Even Dawn was glaring at her sister for the joke this time. Faith just chuckled and sat down. "Hey, if you talk to her and get this out in the open you'd have less opportunities for me to have my fun." Faith replied grinning like a Cheshire cat.  
  
"It's not that simple Faith, you know Buffy... she won't take it well." Dawn explained.  
  
"She'll take it even worse the longer you delay telling her. Just call her and tell her. She can't complain about the small age difference, she dated and slept with two guys older than our grand parents."  
  
"Not a winning argument when the person we'd be insulting can bench press a steel beam." Xander interjected.  
  
"She might not understand at first but she knows Xander very well and there is no one that I can think of that I would want dating my younger sister." Faith stated.  
  
"Thanks for the, pardon the pun, Faith sis," Dawn said then returned to making breakfast. "We're just not sure Buffy will feel the same."  
  
"Well Dawn, Xander, if you two wait too long and she finds out on her own... don't say I didn't warn yah." Faith said as she shoveled some sausage that Xander had just put in front of her in her mouth. 


	3. 3

It was ten minutes till sunset and Faith Summers and Xander Harris stood outside of Manny's Pizzeria awaiting Dawn's return with dinner. The two friends were joking and having a very good time. Soon the conversation changed to Xander's intentions towards Faith's baby sister. Xander laughed as Faith emphasized the word "baby".  
  
"I don't need details on what you two do Xander, I just want to know exactly where you stand and how you feel about her." Faith explained.  
  
"The only reason you don't want the details is because the two of you discussed almost every aspect of our personal lives last night." Xander replied in a very exasperated tone.  
  
"Hey, a girls got a right to know what her sister's up to and make sure she's being SAFE!" Faith stated emphasizing the word safe.  
  
"Before Dawn and I became intimate we both got tested to make sure neither of us had contracted anything harmful due to our multiple encounters with the supernatural. That and my two sexual relationships." Xander stated.  
  
Faith didn't touch the last part because she had been one of those two relationships. She was his first, and once she got her head on straight always regretted the way she'd treated him.  
  
"Once we were given a clean bill of health Dawn, being the responsible person she is, got her doctor to place her on birth control and she then bought a months supply of condoms."  
  
"Better safe than sorry huh." Faith asked rhetorically.  
  
"Exactly." Xander adamantly stated.  
  
"Dawn told me about Cordy making it clear that you loved her... when exactly did you start falling for Dawn?" Faith asked sincerely curious when Xander noticed that little Dawn was no longer little.  
  
"The first time I noticed that Dawn was truly a woman was after she found out that Amanda, not she, was the potential slayer. Dawn showed a remarkable level of strength and maturity and I took note of that. As to when I started to fall in love with her... if I'm honest with myself it was shortly after I lost my eye. She was the only person that had the time to be with me and help me through it. I don't fault any of you for being preoccupied with other things but Dawn made it a point to always be there for me... and that's when I started to fall for her."  
  
"That's very deep Xander. Dawn's very lucky to have your love." Faith said. As soon as the words had left her mouth she'd immediately regretted saying them. They brought back the memory of how he'd offered her his help, and pretty much his heart and she had almost killed him for it.  
  
"No Faith, I'm the lucky one. I don't know where I'd be today if it weren't for Dawn."  
  
"Probably in Africa." Dawn stated holding the pizza and side orders as she walked up and kissed her lover on the cheek. She then turned to her sister and stated playfully, with a hint of serious ness, "Back off sis, he's taken."  
  
Faith smiled, held her hand out like a cat claw and upon making a slashing motion made a "reowr" like sound imitating a cat.  
  
"I'll meet you guys back at your place, I want to see if that video store has a movie I'm looking for." Faith called out as she started to cross the street.  
  
"Don't take too long, food doesn't last long at our place." Xander yelled.  
  
"I don't find any food when I get back I'll be coming for you Harris." Faith joked as she gripped the door handle and opened the door to the store.  
  
Fifteen minutes later a depressed Faith Summers exited the video store empty handed. Not only did the store not have the video but also they didn't know anyone in the area that might carry it. It wasn't even that old a movie, nor was its content inappropriate for younger viewers... it was simply out of print. Oh well, E-bay here I come. Faith thought to herself.  
  
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" A passing girl inquired as she neared Faith. Noticing the position of the sun and the feeling that her senses were telling her Faith already knew that they hadn't met.  
  
"I sincerely doubt it. I'm new to the area and only know two people here." Faith calmly replied as she started in the direction opposite from her home. The last thing she needed were any supernatural baddies that might be here to follow her home.  
  
"Nooooo I know you." The vampire insisted.  
  
"Listen it's been a rough welcoming, if you want to fight let's go into the alley and get it done with, so I can go home and relax." Faith said sighing and pointing to the alley.  
  
"You see really eager to die, how did you defeat Mo, Lar and Curl all by yourself?" The vampire inquired as she walked side by side against Faith.  
  
"Easy, like this." Faith replied. Before the vamp had even take three steps Faith had drawn the stake she kept sheathed inside her coat and jabbed it into the vampire's heart faster than the vampire could register the movie.  
  
Faith watched as the vampire screamed and burst into dust.  
  
"Anyone else want to have a little chat before I go home?" Faith inquired. As if to answer her question three vampires rushed her from behind while two eagerly awaited her in the alleyways.  
  
Dawn and Xander were sitting at the kitchen table looking at the pizza box that had remained closed since Faith had made their idle threat. Xander was about to risk death when he heard the electric motor of the elevator and sighed. His stomach was a rumblin' and he was eager to sate the sensation. He and his ladylove watched as Faith, looking worse than when they'd left her not too long ago, walked into the dining area with a purpose. She opened the box of pizza and noticed that not only was there pizza for her but it was still whole and intact.  
  
"You're lucky." A disheveled Faith uttered as she removed a piece of pizza and began feasting on it.  
  
"Ummm sis... what happened?"  
  
Faith just looked at the girl. "What happened you ask?" Faith repeated.  
  
"I'll tell you what happened. It seems this cozy little community, while not a hot bed of supernatural energy, is a sort of staging area for Vampire's, demons and other things to that go bump in the night. While the death toll is no where near that of Sunnydale it is not exactly the Mayberry either." Faith retorted.  
  
"A fact that the computers at Wolfram & Hart should have damn well known."  
  
"Yeah... we kinda noticed that about a week and a half ago." Xander stated.  
  
"And you didn't tell me this because..."  
  
"We were hoping that once word got out that a slayer was moving here things would calm down... apparently that is not the case." Dawn informed her sister.  
  
"This just sucks on sooo many levels." Faith stated and returned to eating her pizza.

* * *

"I bring news and information for you my master." Joshua said as he kneiled before the female vampire.  
  
"Rise and show me what you have." The vampire master ordered.  
  
"We lost six of our newer converts to the slayer. There is no doubt what so ever to this fact." Joshua stated and began replaying the video.  
  
The Master watched as the slayer, whose features were hidden by the shadows lashed out and dispatched her minions in relatively quick fashion. Faith had grabbed the collars of two vamp's behind her and tossed them against the brick wall before her. The third vampire behind her had wrapped his arms around her slim waist and heaved the girl into the air. Faith lifted her legs all the way up then swung them down using the momentum leaned forward causing the vampire to flip with her. The vampire found himself on his back and forced to release Faith who'd Drawn a stake and rammed it into his chest. She then tossed the same shard of wood at an approaching vampire and the adversary screamed and dispersed into dust.  
  
The last of the standing minions, a brunette female, grabbed the slayer by her hair and managed to toss the girl over her shoulder. When the minion moved to pounce on the slayer the young woman grabbed a nearby garbage lid and tossed it at the vampire's chest with superhuman strength. The lid dented on the vampire knocking the vampire off balance and allowing the slayer to return to her feet, pick up her weapon and dispatch the vampire. Faith then walked over to the two unconscious vampires and staked them before they awoke. The master watched as the camera zoomed in on the slayer. The brunette girl looked straight ahead and in the light her features were more evident.  
  
"Stop." The Master ordered as the camera held on the picture of Faith's face. Her hair was covering the left side of her face but the angle of her head clearly allowed the camera to record the unhidden part of her face.  
  
"Faith." The Master Vampire uttered.  
  
"You know this slayer my Master?" Joshua inquired.  
  
"A long time ago it seems. Yes, we will definitely need to get more footage of her fighting style. In the new Slayer hiarchaey she is second only to Buffy Summers. She is the slayer of Kakistos as well as several of Baltazar's brood. She is a force to be reckoned with and I will not be caught unaware where this particular slayer is concerned." The Master declared.  
  
"I will make it my purpose in life to become the slayer's second shadow my lady."  
  
"Joshua... summon Argos. Tell him I have a need of his special abilities." The Master commanded.  
  
"Thy will be done." Joshua stated. 


	4. 4

Much like Sunnydale, Haddonfield had an under eighteen club that the high school students could do to for dancing, drinking (no alcohol of course) and just hanging out somewhere other than home. Faith and Dawn were currently having a girl's night out while Xander holed himself up in his little Bat-Cave. The two girls were dancing away to the techno music that the DJ was currently playing working up a sweat and just having fun in general. It had been some time since Faith had let her hair down like this and she was immediately taken back to her younger days.  
  
Prison had changed her outlook on life a great deal. In the three years she resided there (not counting the time that she was forcibly removed from prison against her will) Faith had not had a whole lot of time to relax. Even the one time that Faith took the potential slayers out to the Bronze to blow off some steam she was still on the clock playing den mother. Now, for the first time in ages she was free to cut loose and just hang out with her sister. The club, Twilight, was packed with gals and guys ages fifteen to twenty a large number of which were staring at the two women who many had not seen around before.  
  
Faith's sultry looks and Dawn's angelic beauty were the envy of all the girls present. To the male population (and some of the female) Faith was the ultimate temptress, while Dawn's innocence gave her a girl next door like appearance that they craved equally as much. The males in close proximity to the two women were ogling them as if their heads would explode if they were to look away. Dawn and Faith just ignored the lustful stares by the men and jealous glances of the women and continued to dance to the beat of the song. When the melody subsided and the DJ began speaking Faith and Dawn stepped off to the side to take a quick breather. Their solitude did not last long.  
  
"Hey beautiful," A rather studly African American male said to Faith, "Care to dance?"  
  
"Maybe next dance," Faith stated. "My sister and I are just getting our groves on."  
  
"Sister is it..." Another male stated. "Thank god."

Faith and Dawn rolled their eyes. It was obvious what the jackass was thinking and they were so not in the mood to deal with it.

"You'll have to forgive my friend here. He thought that because you two were dancing together that you might be..."  
  
"Not interested." Dawn adamantly stated to the friend as she stopped dancing turned towards the bar and proceeded to go get something to drink.  
  
"Your sister needs to learn some manners." The second male, a slightly shorter Caucasian with blonde hair and brown eyes stated to Faith.  
  
"And you need to learn the meaning of tact, take a hike." Faith informed the two.  
  
"Hey, hey, hey... don't be like that. My friend here just isn't used to being shot down so eloquently. He will gladly apologize to your sister, WON'T you Greg?"  
  
"Yeah... yeah I'll apologize. I was way out of line."  
  
"I'm Bryan."  
  
"And I'm done here. Sorry gents, by my sister and I have to jet." Faith stated as she took a bottle of water from Dawn and the two walked towards the exit. Laughs in the direction of the two young men who had just fallen on their faces erupted as the two knockouts let the door slam shut behind them.  
  
"Are you gonna take that?" Greg asked feeling completely embarrassed.  
  
"Nah, nah let's go let those two know what they just blew off." Bryan stated. The two young men rushed to the door opened it and not a minute later where thrown back through the main door to Twilight. The music stopped and all around watched as a group of seven people decked out in black clothing entered the club. The person to the rear, a rather large fellow about six and a half foot tall, entered the room grabbed Bryan by his shirt collar with his left hand and using his right hand twisted the young man's head ninety degrees in the opposite direction. Greg didn't even get a chance to say a single syllable before a woman, appearing to be in her early thirties descended upon him and bit into his neck.

* * *

Screams erupted from the club, screams that pierced the night sky.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Faith asked as she and Dawn walked to their home.  
  
"No, what did it sound like?" Dawn replied as they both stopped to listen for sounds.  
  
Faith was about to give up when she heard a faint scream coming directly behind them.  
  
"You don't think..." Dawn began to say but Faith was to busy dreading the thought of a massacre happening to worry about thinking. Turning, she charged in the direction the scream had originated from and judging by the faintness of the scream it must be from an enclosed structure.  
  
Twilight was surprisingly quiet and Faith guessed that if the music had stopped it was for a good reason. Dawn, unable to keep up with Faith's pace finally arrived right behind the slayer. Faith removed her good jacket and handed it to Dawn.  
  
"Get on the phone and call Xander, tell him we need more weapons." Faith ordered.  
  
Dawn, who was still trying to catch her breath, simply nodded in agreement.  
  
Faith decided that instead of charging through the front door it would probably be more prudent to sneak in through the back.  
  
"Weapons R' Us, how may I direct you call?" Xander said as he lifted his welding helmet up and shut off the torch.

"Xander, Faith said to bring as many weapons as you can muster in a short time to the Twilight Club." Dawn said having finally caught her breath.  
  
"What's the sitch?" Xander inquired as she removed his safety gloves and helmet.  
  
"We don't know yet but there were screams coming from inside the Twilight Club and there isn't any music playing. Something is definitely not right here." Dawn explained.  
  
"All right hon. Sit tight and I'll be there with the standard demon and vampire hardware." Xander decreed as he ended the conversation and proceeded to load up on sharp pointy objects.  
  
He was about to head upstairs when he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him rethink his choice of weapons. Running back down the stairs Xander dropped the bag he was carrying and opened the cabinet that contained several items that while not tested might be better suited for close combat in a club full of teens.  
  
Faith was in the middle of a fight with three vampires attempting to snack on a group of high school girls. Faith had found a wooden broom in a utility closet and upon breaking it, engaged the vampires in hand-to-hand combat. Faith noticed immediately that the vampires seemed less inclined to fight now that she had arrived and more interested in preventing her escape. The group of teens had fled the dance floor upon Faith's reappearance and watched as the lone girl fought off the weird faced hooligans. The group then stopped their assault and moved back allowing the tallest vampire Faith had ever seen to enter the dance floor.  
  
"You are Faith?" The figure inquired.  
  
"What of it?" The annoyed slayer inclined. She was sizing up the pro- wrestler wanna be with his hokey Transylvanian accent.  
  
"I vanted to be sure dat I had de right person. It vud be a shame if I killed the wrong gurl." The figure informed her.  
  
Faith charged the vampire, drew back her right hand, and clinched her fist and using her full power delivered the first of several staggering blows, to her opponent's chest, waist and face. The six-foot plus foe took all of Faith's most powerful blows without blocking, and was still standing. Faith, upon seeing her opponent still standing, uttered only one word, "Fuck!"  
  
The tall figure smiled at his bewildered opponent and then backhanded Faith sending her sailing through the air and into the bar. Faith impacted with a sickening thud and she thought she could taste blood once she managed to regain some semblance of coherency.  
  
"So this is a slayer... and here I thought you might be mildly amusing."  
  
"Go to hell." Faith spat as her opponent neared her.  
  
"I vill once you join me. I miss it on dese rather tiring business trips." The figure stated. "I vant you to know before you die that my name is Argos. I kill you now not for pleasure or amusement... it's just business."  
  
Faith watched as Argos lifted his right boot and prepared to bring it down full force upon her rib cage. If his legs were as strong as his arms Faith knew that her ribs would shatter and puncture her lungs and heart.  
  
Showing no fear Faith merely spat defiantly at the six-foot tall monster. Argos was about to kill his foe when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see a wooden shaft sticking out of the left side of his chest. He turned to see a young teenage girl wielding a rather modern looking crossbow. She cocked the pump action hand on her weapon and another arrow was primed and ready to shoot at the first vampire that moved in her direction. Dawn Summers and her older sister watched as Argos slowly lowered his foot to the ground, casually looked at the arrow sticking out of his chest through his suit, then carefully removed the wooden shaft from the front of his wound and snapped it in half. Definitely not a vampire! Dawn and Faith both thought at the same time.  
  
"Remove the annoyance from my sight." Argos ordered. The three vampires that had previously been holding Faith at bay darted towards Dawn, eager to carry out the order. Dawn sent an arrow at the vampire to her right nailing it in the heart causing the vampire to explode. She tossed her crossbow to the vampire in front of her completely bewildering him while his companion seeks to sink her teeth into Dawn's throat. Dawn uses the vampire's moment and monkey flips the female vampire through the door. The initially shocked vampire decides to be original flips the hefty crossbow around and takes aim at Dawn.  
  
"Suck on this bitch." The vampire screams. He pulls the trigger only to have nothing happen.  
  
Dawn walked up looking at the again stupefied vampire and says, "Safety." She then pressed the stud to release her wrist blades, shearing the vampire's head off with her right hand weapon and catching the crossbow in her left hand.  
  
"I love this part of the job." Dawn says as she released the safety catch and proceeded to unload another arrow at a vampire.

"As you may have guessed I am not a vampire." Argos announced to the now standing Faith Summers. "I am a rare entity on this plane known as a Vorsha Demon. I can alter my appearance to make myself look like however I vant. In addition to being sturdier than de average demon I can do this..." Argos announced. He slammed his fists together and his upper forearms ignited in red flames.  
  
"Come slayer... time to meet your maker."  
  
Faith ducked the left and right combination punches that Argos sent at her, rolled forward and ended up directly behind him. She back kicked the demon staggering him only for a moment before he swung around and singed her long dark hair. Now that she had her second wind, and Argos wasn't as prepared for her attack, Faith spun about so that she was facing the Vorsha demon, jumped up and delivered a very powerful drop kick sending her almost foot taller opponent crashing into the bar that she'd just sailed into. Argos was smiling when he regained his composure. Faith was not at all surprised that she had only staggered the demon with that attack but it was better than the onesided fight that had been occuring up until this point.  
  
"Dat's the spirit Slayer. Give me all you've got. Make my trip to this place worth my time."  
  
Xander,who upon arriving gave his love her crossbow and wrist blades, had circled around the back and was currently assisting Dawn with the clean up of the lesser vampires. Sneaking up on a couple of vamp's, while they were distracted, Xander used the opportunity to test his newest gadget. The two vampire's had their backs to him and only realized he was there after they felt a sharp pain from a blade followed by a burning sensation. The two vampires barely had time to scream before they were dust. He didn't have long to celebrate thought before he heard a booming voice.  
  
"Get him, I'll take her." One of the last two remaining vampires stated. The vampire that was giving orders tossed a glass bottle of coke at Dawn making the youngest Summers girl duck and cover. When the projectile was clear she was in the immediate presence of the vampire who had used the distraction to close the distance and make using the crossbow useless. He stood laughing as he held the wooden shaft directly in front of his heart.  
  
"If only it would fly huh fledgling? What are going to do know?" The vampire asked Dawn in a mocking tone.  
  
"Improvise." Dawn spat. Striking the second trigger on the crossbow, the vampire watched in horror as a wood stake, shaped like a bayonet, shot from the underside of the crossbow and was now a moment from puncturing the vamp's skin.  
  
"Duck Season." Dawn said and ran the wooden weapon into the vampire.  
  
The wooden shaft, now free of the vampire's grip flew forward and, since Dawn had been aiming the whole duration of the smug vampire's speech, struck the Vorsha Demon in it's left hand. Dawn had been aiming for his leg but she wasn't complaining.  
  
Xander mean while was testing his latest invention, a pneumatic injector similar to the ones used in the movie Blade II. Unlike Blade's weapons, his vials needed only one stab to inject a lethal dose of holy water directly into a vampire's blood stream. This weapon was more ideal for a slayer (experts at hand to hand combat with the strength & speed to match) but since this was the first field test and Faith was battling a demon, not a vampire he decided to test it out himself.  
  
The vampire must have had some boxing lessons in his days because he was treating his bout with Xander like a prizefight. Xander managed to evade all of the vampire's attacks, not wanting to risk taking one of his super punches and was looking for his opening. The vampire delivered a left cross that Xander ducked under, and countered with a left directly to the vampire's un-beating heart.  
  
The blade pierced the vampire's skin and injected the holy water into his system. The vampire staggered back and was about to continue the fight when he felt something strange within him. At first he thought it was a side effect of being stabbed but then he started to burn. The vampire felt like he was on fire then watched as smoke began rising from him. With a scream of pain the vampire combusted then turned to ash.  
  
Dawn ran over to her love and gave him a hug. Xander breathed a sigh of relief until he saw that Faith was barely holding her own against the fire- wielding demon. "When did Brock Lesnar become a vampire?" Xander inquired.  
  
"His name is Argos, says he's a Vorsha Demon. I shot him in the heart with an arrow and it didn't kill him."  
  
"His heart, if he has one, is probably in a different place." Xander said trying to quickly assess a way to help Faith.  
  
"Fire probably won't do much to this guy." Xander said noticing the demon's arms.  
  
"Yah think." Dawn replied sarcastically.  
  
"Let's try this on for size." Xander said as he grabbed his bag-o-tricks that he'd placed behind the counter just before he entered the fray and pulled out a rather hefty looking glove.  
  
"Xander, this is no time for another untested gizmo." Dawn spat as she watched her sister take a fire fist to the stomach then not only burned her for the brief contact but put a whole in her new top. She knew that Faith was now pissed.  
  
"It's not entirely untested... watch and learn."  
  
Faith was irate this pro-wrestling reject was barely winded and had the upper hand on her. Given, Faith had hoped to leave this part of her life far behind her, but if there was one thing that she truly despised, it was losing fights. Faith was determined that after everything that she'd been put through, especially the last moth, that she was not going to start losing now.  
  
Argos grinned as he raised his right fist, still crackling of fire, and was about to begin pummeling Faith when Faith heard something strike the big thug and next thing she knew he was jittering about like he'd stepped in a puddle of water that was electrified. Faith saw that Xander was wearing some contraption on his hand and several wires were handing from it.  
  
"Go Xander." Faith yelled as she realized Xander had rigged a high capacity stunner similar to what she'd been told the Initiative used to capture hostiles.  
  
Xander watched as the power cell discharged into the demon and he gave dawn the signal. Dawn slid her sister the last weapon that Xander had brought with him, but he was sure that Faith would make the best of it. Faith opened the bag and drew out a rather wicked looking black rod but she already knew what it was. Xander had told her he'd designed it with a slayer in mind. Pressing the stud in the middle of the handle, two rather sharp sword blades sprung from the ends and Faith spun the double bladed spear about and going for the only weak spot she could think of on this Demon, cleaved the still electrically charged demon's head off at his rather non-existant neck.

All present watched as the demon's head fell from it's shoulders and fell to the ground. The fire that was originally only on the demon's forearms enveloped its whole body. Within seconds the demon was ash, head included.

Xander stopped the shock treatment and retracted the coils back into the glove. In the distance the sounds of a police siren could be heard.  
  
"I think that's our cue to motor ladies." Xander said and headed for the back door. 

"Don't have to tell me twice." Faith announced retracting the blades on her new favorite two and tossing the weapon to Xander.

Dawn helped Faith gather the rest of their things and departed ASAP. 

* * *

"So…" The Master said in a very annoyed tone. "Argos failed."

The video footage that Joshua had collected from the security cameras told a better story than Joshua ever could.

"Yes my Master."

"She is indeed become a very formidable." The Master announced to a surprised Joshua.

"She did have assistance my Master."

"Of course she did Joshua. But do not discount the slayer in the equation. In the grand scheme of things her associates are nothing more than tools, weapons if you will, at the slayer's disposal. She may view them as colleagues and friends, but they are a resource for her, nothing more, nothing less. Besides, she lasted the entire duration of their encounter with only three assists. That alone shows that she has incredible endurance. A fact I won't forget, nor disregard."

"Forgive my ignorance my master. I, your lowly servant, completely missed that detail." Joshua declared, his head bowed.

"I may not be the oldest vampire in existence my servant but I am by far one of the smartest, and most observant. There is much to learn about this girl before the time of my plans is at hand. Keep a watch on her Joshua. Keep a very, very close watch."

"I live to serve, my master." Joshua said bowing and then departing.

The telephone in the office was ringing so loud he thought his head would explode. If he hadn't already been awake researching a demon uprising in Prague he would be very cross to say the least. Picking up the receiver the native brit answered, "Rupert Giles speaking."

"Hello Giles." The distinctively feminine voice on the other line greeted him.

"Faith, how have you been?" Giles inquired surprised to hear from his second surrogate daughter.

"I've had better days… I just wanted to call and see how things were on your end of the big blue."

"Demon uprising in Prague. Nothing we can't handle. Is everything all right Faith, you sound a little… distracted?"

"No… everything's ok. I just had to take a break from things… get away from slaying."

"I understand, this last month has been particularly trying for you, especially since…"

"I'm un-retiring Giles. Consider me an active slayer again" Faith announced.

"Really?" An astonished Giles replied.

"Mark me down as the Slayer assigned to the Midwest region of the United States."

"Where precisely are you?" Giles inquired.

"Haddonfield, Illinois." Faith informed him.

"Haddonfield?" Giles inqured not familar with the area. He looked it up and did not see that the area merrited a full time slayer, still if Faith requested it there must be a reason. "If you don't mind my asking, what's in Haddonfield that would require a slayer?"

"It's a staging ground for demonic activity. I've been here less than seventy-two hours and I've been in four fights and killed about six vampires and my first Vorsha Demon."

"A Vorsha demon??? I thought they were a myth."

"You were myth-taken." Faith replied.

"That was by far the worst pun I've ever heard you utter." Giles said not sure if he should heave or smile. He opted for the later.

"Yeah well I'm beat. I'll have Dawn send you the report and all the info we have on what's going on."

"Dawn is there… oh never mind. Ok Faith, I eagerly await your report… oh and Faith…" Giles said before she could end the call.

"Yeah Giles?"

"It's good to hear from you, be safe." Giles told the dark haired girl.

"You too G. Say hi to big sis for me.

Faith sat upon the ledge of the Harris/Summers dwelling looking out at the calm night sky. She was pondering her place in the grand scheme of things when she felt a familiar presence approach her.

"Some pretty rad gear you cooked up there X-Man."

"Thanks, glad you liked you new toy."

"Yeah, it cleaved his head off with like I was cutting through hot butter." Faith stated, not really caring to remember the activities of the night.

"I'm really sorry you had to cut your retirement short. If it's any consolation, I know exactly how you feel."

"Thanks Xander, I would say you're being condescending but I don't actually know what the word means…" She laughed, so did her sister's boyfriend. "All I know is that when I look back on the night, if I hadn't gone back to help those kids…. It would have been a massacre. Those guys at the club were specifically looking for me. As it is it was sheer luck I was there and happened to hear the kids screaming for help."

"Faith… there are so few of us that truly know what evil exists in the world and even fewer of us that can do anything about it. I know you wanted to leave it behind you… but the truth is this is your calling. It is who you are and defines you. I'm not saying that this is all you'll ever amount to, but for the most part I'm glad that you are who you are."

"Thanks Xander." Faith said smiling.

"Faith the Vampire Slayer, the boogey man… er... woman of the underworld."

"And don't you forget it."

"Come on Faith, since you didn't get a full night off I'll let you massacre me in Dead or Alive 3 some more."

"Oh you'll let me will you…" Faith said climbing to her feet and racing to the stairwell.

The End


End file.
